Metallica concert takes in $200,000 for 'Marin Rocks'

Metallica's first ever Marin County concert netted $200,00 for the "Marin Rocks" museum project, Marin History Museum officials have announced.

Metallica fans paid up to $350 a ticket to the sold-out Sept. 11 show at the 2,000-seat Marin Veterans Memorial Auditorium.

The money goes to Marin Rocks, an interactive museum of Marin music history scheduled to open next summer on Fourth St. in downtown San Rafael.

"There has been nothing but positive reaction to everything about the concert," said museum publicist Stephanie Clarke. "People are very excited."

Marin residents James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, who founded the heavy metal band and established the group's headquarters in San Rafael, have become major supporters of the project.

As parents of school age children, they have been particularly enthusiastic about its educational components, including having professional musicians working with young people in classrooms and workshops.

During the concert, Hetfield told fans who had come to see Metallica in his hometown: "We appreciate you coming out to support the ancestry and the history of music in Marin County."

Marin Rocks will also feature artifacts, photographs, film footage and a multimedia theater chronicling the county's rich musical heritage.

The history museum board recently signed a long-term lease to establish Marin Rocks in a 7,100-square-foot storefront at 850 Fourth St.

Contact Paul Liberatore via e-mail at liberatore@marinij.com; follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/LibLarge.